Coaching is about people. It’s about helping them thrive in all aspects of their lives, careers and relationships. That’s it in a nutshell. But in order to do this really well we need to understand that we cannot use a cookie-cutter, one size fits all approach to coaching individuals. We are wonderfully diverse as humans in terms of age, gender, identity, ethnicity, beliefs, backgrounds, ability, sexuality, personality, preferences and neurodiversity. The list goes on. So, what do we need to think about as coaches?
First of all, what do we mean by inclusion? Inclusion is one of those words that we can only understand when we explore its opposite exclusion. Why might we be excluded? Why might others exclude us? That does it feel like to be excluded? What does inclusion mean and what does it feel like: perhaps being seen, valued, listened to, involved, consulted with.
It’s also about having things delivered in a way that is understandable, usable, tailored or reasonably adapted to you. How is it that individuals, families, communities, organisations societies empower and disempower others?
Inclusion and exclusion have much to do with people, power and privilege.
1 - You:
Becoming an inclusive coach starts with you and it’s starts with deep self-awareness and a willingness to learn and grow generally – and from each coaching client / assignment. Who are you? Why do you coach? What’s you story? Why did you select your niche or area of coaching? What’s your personal, family, cultural and professional background? What have been your major life experiences? What are your strengths, preferences and weaknesses when it comes to coaching? What’s your learning style how does that impact on you’re and your clients? How adaptable are you? As a coach you need to be aware of this, and be able to park all this or note this as apt.
2 - Your coachee(s):
Who are you coaching? What’s their story? Where are they at in their life and their career? What do they want from coaching? Why have you been selected to coach them? Did they come to coaching of their own choice? What’s their background? What’s their world view and their take on themselves. What is they want are their aspirations? What’s their learning style? How do they want to be coached? In some ways this is the very essence of coaching to help the client achieve deep self-awareness – in order to get the best of themselves and their lives. To what degree is any of this important to them and their circumstances. Their age, faith, life stage, personality, gender, background, preferences, and experiences – and their abilities, experiences and preferences may be very important even though it may be the specific topic they approached you with. You will need to go on a dance of learning and discovery with your client.
3 - The context of the coaching scenario:
This leads us on to the context. We are not coaching an individual in a vacuum. Their home life, personal journey, workplace and interpersonal relationships all play a huge part. So, for example your client wants to progress in their career but what’s the team and cultural culture like? You may have found it easy, that they should do X, YZ, but you have not walked in their shoes. How is it that your client is perceived?
Interestingly some of the answers to these questions we may never know the answers – or they may shift. For those of us who coach people in the workplace these dynamics are often evident from the word go.
Becoming an inclusive coach requires self-awareness, emotional intelligence, cultural awareness and an openness and curiosity – it is also an ongoing journey. Practically it means that we adapt our coaching style, times, approach, tone, pace, place, content, delivery style based on the client and their needs. It also means we have to provide a deep level of psychological safety in order to create the safe group to explore challenging issues as required and challenging questions where necessary or appropriate as well as empowering feedback.
About Author:
Rasheed Ogunlaru is a leading life coach, motivational speaker. He is the author of The Gift of Inner Success and Soul Trader – Putting the Heart Back into Your Business. Rasheed is also a long-serving Associate Trainer of The Coaching Academy.
If you missed May's Coaching Conversations with Rasheed and our Head of Training Sharon Lawton discussing this important topic further, just head to our YouTube Channel where you can watch the replay: What does it mean to be an inclusive coach? Coaching Conversations - YouTube
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